If you’re in sales, or any kind of business that has ANYTHING to do with customer service (is there a job that doesn’t?) telling your customers/clients/prospects what you “can’t do” is the dumbest thing you can do (see? I used the word “can”?).

Heres just ANOTHER reason why my insurance company is losing my business in 15 days.

Like I wrote in my last post, I gave my current insurance agent the simple task of reviewing my policy to make sure I was getting the best rates possible with the coverage I needed.

Am I missing any discounts? Is my coverage right? What if we change the deductible? Is there anything I’m paying for that I don’t need?

I was impressed with the follow up. He called me back in less than 2 hours. I thought “well, maybe I’ll stick with Nationwide afterall…”

This is basically how the conversation went:

“Brian, hi it’s Jim from Nationwide”

“Jim, good afternoon. I’m hoping you have some good news for me”

“Well, Brian. I reviewed your policy, and it looks like you’re getting all the discounts you are eligible for,” (including an airbag discount… which seems odd to me, but okay) “so I can’t really do anything else for you, okay?

“Um, okay, thanks Jim”

“Yup. Have a good one”

Thats when he lost my business. What could Jim have done differently to retain me as a customer? He could have told me, “Brian, here’s what I CAN DO…” Jim could have told me what makes Nationwide stand out. Or why being with Nationwide is a better VALUE. No benefits. No features. No attempt to retain me as a customer. If he doesn’t want my business, why should I continue to give it to him?

Every customer matters. Every client is important. When there is a problem with price, show the customer the VALUE.